


Iris of The Desert

by MyOnly (orphan_account)



Category: Naruto
Genre: Apathy, Blood and Gore, F/M, Fluff, Mild Language, Original Team, Uncertainty, Violent Thoughts, long chapters, somewhat canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-27
Updated: 2016-04-27
Packaged: 2018-06-04 21:42:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6676423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/MyOnly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ayame, a strange girl, meets another strange person, Gaara of The Desert; she falls in love with the Jinchuriki, and hopes that the love she has for him is not unrequited.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I've had this written for awhile, but never got around to migrating this to here. I have it on my DA and FF account.

After the day's mission, Naruto and Sasuke were bickering as usual; Ayame walked a ways back from the them and observed silently as Sakura now joined in on the argument, taking Sasuke's side as usual. Naruto had become distracted by a horribly disguised box that had been following him for sometime now.

"What kind of rock is square, with two holes?!" He exclaimed while pointing at the box. Konohamaru and his two friends jumped out of the box and stared up at Naruto, begging him to 'play ninja'. Ayame was now leaning against the nearby fence, watching as Naruto was being scolded by Sakura.

"I'll kill you Naruto!" She screamed at him, proceeding to chase the him and his 'followers', after being called wide browed.

Losing his footing, Konohamaru slipped over his scarf, and stumbled face- first into a couple of ninja she had never seen before.

"That hurt you little piece of shit." One of the ninja, a boy, who had a hat with pointy looking ears, and odd face-paint, grabbed Konohamaru by his scarf.

"Don't, we'll get scolded later." The other, a girl with four spiky blonde ponytails, sighed; her voice low as if she didn't want the others to hear.

"Hey fatass!" Naruto interjected, catching the male ninja's attention. "Let go of him!"

"Naruto you fucking idiot!" Ayame yelled at him, her dark, blood- red eyes narrowing. Naruto ignored her and ran at the male; his fist extended.

"You want to play a little huh?" The male smirked before extending his fingers. Ayame watched in amusement as his ring finger pulled back, causing Naruto to fall back on his behind. He looked up at them in confusion and bewilderment, while Sakura was almost shaking. "Leaf Genin are weak." He muttered.

"That was puppet ninjutsu right?" Ayame questioned while taking a step forward towards the foreigner. "You seem... what's the phrase.. more than novice? No.. Ah whatever." She threw her arms up and cocked her head to the side. "Neat trick though." She snickered.

"You fat pig! I'll make you pay for that!" Naruto had gotten up and prepared to strike again; Sakura ran in and grabbed Naruto from behind, whispering something that did not interest her. The foreigner sneered.

"I hate Midgets." He sighed, rearing his fist back, aiming towards Konohamaru. The girl sighed and turned away, muttering something under her breath. "Well, after this one, I'll take care of this other annoying midget!" His fist flew towards the boy in his arms; fast as lighting, a rock flew, smacking the male in the arm. He dropped Konohamaru while muttering curses under his breath.

"What the hell are you doing in our village?" A voice sounded. Ayame glanced up to see her closest friend perched in a tree.

"Punk." The foreigner spat. "I hate show- offs like you the most.' He pulled a bandage wrapped object off of his back; the girl stepped behind him, a shocked expression crossing her face.

"Hey, are you going to use Karasu?!" She exclaimed; another voice interrupted; causing you and Sasuke to reel back in shock.

"Kankuro, stop it." The boy's voice was slick, almost full of bloodlust, yet sophisticated at the same time. Everybody else turned in surprise; a look of horror crossed the girl, and Kankuro's face. A Genin, foreign just as the other two, was hanging from underneath a tree branch, just adjacent to Sasuke. "You are an embarrassment to our village." He gazed over the crowd of shocked shinobi, and kunoichi; his aquamarine gaze resting on Ayame's for a moment, before turning back to the two ninja of his team. Her gaze was fixed on him, the strange ninja with auburn hair, and a tattoo meaning love on his forehead.

"Gaara…" Kankuro choked out, his lips curled into a nervous smile.

"Losing yourself in a fight, How pathetic.. Why do you think we came to the leaf village?" His tone was cool and collected, his expression as well.

"Listen Gaara, they started it and-"

"Shut up." Gaara interrupted him, his tone becoming more menacing and imposing. "I'll kill you." Gaara's gaze connected with Ayame's, and for a moment, she thought she saw his expression turn soft, but dismissed it as just her imagination. Kankuro kept apologizing over and over; his voice like a broken record. Ayame examined Gaara; he had strange black rings around his eyes, and a gourd on his back. Something about him had her yearning to know more about him. He turned his attention towards Sasuke. "Sorry to you guys." he stated before wind and leaves enveloped his body, only to reappear in between Kankuro and the girl. "Let's go." He turned to leave, yet Sakura ran forward, her expression worried.

"You guys are ninja from the sand village right?" Her turquoise eyes narrowed. "You may be allies with the leaf village, but it's forbidden for shinobi to enter each other's villages without permission." The three turned back towards her, slightly interested. "State your purpose, and depending on it, we may not be able to let you go." The girl scoffed and held up a pass.

"Don't you know anything?" She smirked. "We are genin from the sand, and we have come to take part in your village Chunin exam." Naruto squinted and questioned her, she sighed and explained to the helpless Naruto about the exams; He became fired up, running over to Konohamaru and talking excitedly.

"What's your name?" Sasuke appeared next to Ayame, standing straight and proud.

"Huh?" The girl pointed to herself and blushed slightly. "You mean me?"

"No." He stated blatantly, the girl looking down disappointedly. "You with the gourd."

"Gaara of the Desert." The auburn haired boy replied, his dark ringed eyes narrowed at Sasuke. "I'm interested in your name; and the girl's." He pointed over at Ayame.

"It's Sasuke Uchiha." He chuckled, then looked over at his teammate. "That's-"

"Ayame Mori." She stated. She raised an eyebrow, and Gaara smiled; not a sweet one, but one who was hungry for blood and battle.

"Hey! Hey! Wanna know my name?!" Naruto interjected. He smiled brightly. Gaara looked him over for a brisk moment and turned away.

"Not interested."

* * *

 

Ayame sat outside in the park that evening, recounting the day.

"Chunin exams, huh? I wonder if I'll be able to take them… I shouldn't even be in a squad yet though.." She sighed and ran a hand through her medium length black hair, twirling the ends with her index finger.

"Hey, you." A familiar voice called from behind her. She jumped off of the bench and whipped around; the sand ninja with the gourd stood behind the bench, his gaze fixed on her.

"Gaara right?" She questioned and took a step towards the bench again. He nodded in approval while walking around to stand in front of her.

"Yes. I wasn't expecting to find you here." He looked past her, his gaze fixed on the velvet sky.

"M-me neither." She stuttered. "Don't you ever sleep?" She questioned, her cheeks becoming hot, Ayame had to avert her gaze from him.

"Hardly." His voice was calm and collected, and his eyes were fixed on Ayame again. "I could ask the same about you." Gaara narrowed his eyes; Ayame gave a nervous laugh before speaking again.

"I just couldn't sleep tonight, for whatever reason… Do you want to walk around with me?" She tried to change the subject, Ayame hated talking about herself; she was an incredibly untrusting girl, and hated the thought of people knowing her weaknesses. Gaara was taken aback at the sudden question, and silently pondered if this girl was partially mad.

"You aren't afraid of me?" His aquamarine eyes roved over her, examining her features; Ayame shook her head, and noticed Gaara's expression had become stricken with pain.

"Why would I be afraid of you? I can tell you wouldn't hurt me."

"I could; it would be really easy to do so." His fingers twitched and sand rose from the ground, and swirled around Ayame. She looked back at him and smiled sweetly, not phased by what he was doing. Gaara clicked his tongue in annoyance, the sand swirling around her fell to the ground in small piles at her feet.

"See? What did I say?" Ayame looked back at Gaara, his look had gone sour and he turned away. "Let's go for a walk now, please.." Her hand reached out to take Gaara's and sand formed quickly. He whipped around in shock, sand flew at Ayame, hitting her square in the chest and sending her sliding across the gritty dirt path. He walked up to her and kneeled down to look at her.

"You were wrong. I did hurt you." Gaara sighed.

"You could have done worse though, you didn't mean to, am I right?" She sat and brushed the dirt off of her pants. Gaara stared at her in amazement. People were never this brave. He had never encountered anybody who didn't run after being hit. "Gaara...?" She pressed her hand against his cheek gently; no sand formed this time. Her soft, warm hand sent him back to reality; Gaara stared at Ayame, his mouth gaping and eyes wide.

"What are you...?" His voice was hollow and he couldn't avert his gaze from her, as much as he wanted to. Ayame smiled gently and took her hand away.

"I'm just a leaf genin, nothing more, nothing less." She chuckled and sat back, her eyes now looking at the sky. "It's so beautiful, isn't it?" A sigh escaped her lips and her blood-red eyes glanced over at the boy beside her.

"It's just the sky, what's so great about it?" His aquamarine ones gazed back at her, Ayame could feel her cheeks getting hot; she looked away nervously and he laughed somewhat.

"I-it's pretty... and it makes me feel good.." She poked at the dirt; Gaara tilted his head and a faint smile curled on his lips. His dark ringed eyes flitted over to her figure staring at the night sky, then followed her gaze, watching with her.

"Will you be in the Chunin exams?" His sudden question caused a shiver to rush down her spine. She laughed nervously and scratched the back of her head, trying to play cool.

"Probably.. Maybe.. I don't know.." Ayame sighed and grabbed a stick that laid on the ground near her. She started to draw small animals in the ground, yet Gaara flicked his finger, causing sand to erase her images. She tried again, only to have him wipe away her drawings once more. "Stop it Gaara!" She looked over at him with puppy- dog eyes and her cheeks puffed out. Ayame huffed and tried one last time; she picked up the stick and slowly drew the leaf for her hidden village. Gaara glanced over at her, and soft smile still shown on his face. His hand reached over to grab the stick, but ended up bumping Ayame's hand, knocking the stick away.

"I'm sorry." He spat quickly before turning away. Ayame blushed and reached over to the stick; she placed it next to Gaara and tapped his shoulder.

"Here, you wanted to use it didn't you?" Her voice was gentle and quiet while she smiled at the boy. He took the stick and turned back around, drawing his village symbol in the dirt.

"Thanks."

"I don't want to think about fighting you Gaara. I probably wouldn't stand a chance." She smiled sadly and ran her finger through the small mounds of sand in front of her feet. He went horrifyingly silent, the stick in his grip snapping into two pieces. "If you're as scary as you say..." Ayame stopped moving her finger; unwanted tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. "I'm so scared. I heard people have died from this; I don't want to die Gaara! I'm not strong like Sasuke, I still don't know what I'm good at. It's not easy."

"You need to get stronger." Gaara muttered, his dark ringed eyes cast down at the ground. His fingers now drawing the tattoo that was on his forehead. She inched closer to Gaara as he drew the symbol; Ayame giggled slightly and started drawing a figure under the kanji.

"What is that?" He glanced over at her while she was drawing; her expression was soft and peaceful while drawing.

"It's me..." she brought her index finger up to her mouth, her canine tooth nicked the skin, causing a small blood drop to bubble out of the cut. Ayame touched the blood in two spots to make eyes on the drawing of her; she then moved to the next drawing and her cheeks became a slight pink. "This is you." She pressed her index finger against the sand in the spot where she drew his hair. Blood spread from the small cut and filled in the lines, creating the red hair.

"Did you just make your blood do that..?" His eyes darted from the drawing, to her finger, then up to her face. Ayame stared back at him innocently and with great confusion.

"Yeah, I could always do that. My mom thought it was weird that I inherited it, so she told me to stop using my blood for trivial things. That it should be used only in battle.." She brought her finger and licked the cut; the wound sealed and Ayame wiped the saliva in the sand. "You probably think it's weird too, huh?" Her chin rested against her knees, her cheeks were puffed out again as Gaara stayed silent. After about two long minutes of silence, he spoke up.

"No. You are no more strange than I am." He concluded. Her lips curled into a smile; she tried to fight off the sleep that threatened to end this precious moment with her new friend. "You remind me of a tanuki, Gaara." Ayame blurted out suddenly, startling the quiet sand ninja.

"Tanuki..? Like the animal?" He looked over at her, his eyes wide in curiosity.

"Yeah! My mom even taught me a song when I was little! I can sing it for if you want." Blushing, Ayame looked back at Gaara; his head nodded slightly, but his expression was back to the usual calm look. Looking away after he nodded, she took a deep breath and turned back towards Gaara. "Okay, ready for this?" He nodded again, his cheeks a soft pink, and Ayame started to sing the little tune she was taught as a child.

_"Mister Raccoon, Mister Raccoon, can't you play with me somehow?_

_No I can't, I'm eating dinner now._

_What's for dinner? I want some!_

_I am eating pickled plums._

_Can I have a little crumb?_

_Don't be such a greedy bum, get your own!"_

Ayame had started moving her hand to the beat, her index finger out and switching from right to left at each syllable or beat. When she finished, her red eyes glanced over at her friend; he was looking back at her, his eyes were wide again and his mouth was open slightly. "I didn't weird you out did I?"

"N-no. You think I look like a Tanuki?" Changing the subject quickly, Gaara stuck his finger in the sand, drawing a raccoon dog. "This right?"

"Yeah, just like that…" Ayame's voice trailed off as sleep started to overcome her. "You're too cute to be afraid of.." Her eyes drooped, and her head fell against Gaara's shoulder. He tensed up as soon as her head touched his arm; his eyes cast down.

"You should be afraid." He allowed her head to stay against his shoulder while she slept.

* * *

 

"Gaara?" A girl's voice called his name, she could be heard walking down the path and looking through bushes. "Oh Gaara, there you are. You had Kankuro and I worried."

"I am fine as you can see." His head turned back to look at her with cold eyes. She stopped in her tracks.

"What is that girl doing with you? You know she's the enemy right? We have orders to destroy this place." Temari approached him again and knelt down next to the auburn haired boy. He went silent, his eyes closed while he contemplated his reply.

"There's something different about her.." He said slowly while looking down at her. "She isn't afraid of me." His hand raised to point at her sleeping figure leaning against his shoulder; he was wide-eyed and innocent while looking up at Temari. She snickered while standing up, and placing a hand on her hip.

"That's a first. You probably didn't hit her did you?" He looked away. "You did hit her? And she still didn't run? Gaara, you should keep her close to you." He stayed silent. "But you should take her somewhere she can sleep. This is no place for you both to stay here... Why not take her back to your room? You can watch over her from there."

"I'll do what I like." His words stabbed at Temari and she backed away slowly, her body trembling. Gaara flicked his fingers and sand coiled around Ayame's body, cradling her head in the same position; careful not wake the girl. "Now go. You bother me and I don't want to see your face anymore."

* * *

 

Ayame stirred as slivers of sun touched her eyelids, and the sound of birds outside reached her ears. Her eyes opened slowly, looking around the unfamiliar room.

"I see you're awake." Gaara's voice startled her; she sat up quickly and stared at the sand genin. Ayame rubbed her eye and yawned, covering her mouth as she did so.

"What am I doing here?" She queried while looking around the room. She noticed the gourd he usually had on his back was propped against the window sill. His eyes narrowed while examining the groggy girl in the bed; He decided to approach her and try to be 'friendly' for once.

"You fell asleep last night." His response was blunt; it made Ayame wince, and she looked down at the white blankets embarrassedly. She had never been great at staying awake if she didn't have her blood suppliments, yet it was more embarrassing for her to wake up with somebody she hardly knew, watching her.

"You didn't sleep at all?" Ayame looked up at him cutely.

"I told you I don't sleep much." He retorted and looked away. Something about her made him feel strange, yet he could not pinpoint what it was. Ayame kept looking at him with her blood eyes, she blushed, then looked down at the blankets again.

"Gaara...?" He looked over at her with great interest. "What do you think of me.." Her fingers twisted in the sheets while she asked that, her cheeks were bright red. Gaara cocked his head to the side, he wasn't picking up the signals that Ayame was putting off.

"I don't understand what you are trying to say." Closing his eyes, Gaara turned away from her and crossed his arms.

"O-okay... I should go now though... I need to get back to my team."

"I'll go with you." Gaara had walked up to Ayame and stared at her with his dark ringed eyes, she held his gaze and willed herself not to blush. A knock at the door interrupted the two, and the staring match ended as Ayame pulled her gaze away from the boy to glance at the door.

"Gaara! We have to go and turn in our applications in a couple hours, we should get going." The blonde girl's voice could be heard from behind the door.

"I have to do something first." The door opened, and the blonde girl took a step in, her eyes widening at the sight of Ayame sitting at the edge of the bed.

"You-!' Temari's eyes narrowed while staring at Ayame; she gritted her teeth and glanced over at Gaara. The only response he gave the blonde, was a death glare, his arms crossed, and sand forming around his feet. Temari smiled sweetly at the girl on the bed before backing out of the room and going down the hall.

* * *

 

"Sorry for that." He turned back to the girl near the bed while grabbing the gourd near the wall. "Let's go." He started to walk out of the room, forcing Ayame to hurry after him.

After walking around the village, Ayame stopped behind Gaara; he looked back at her, his expression cold again.

"Sorry for that weird question earlier." Her index fingers pressed together anxiously as she looked up at Gaara.

"Forget it." Gaara turned back and continued to walk down the street. He beckoned for her to follow, Ayame smiled and hurried after the sand Genin. "That's your team right?" His finger pointed lazily at her three other teammates. Ayame could make out the bright orange jumpsuit from anywhere, also that annoying phrase he always said. Ayame groaned and looked over at Gaara, he looked back, the usual look on his face.

"Hey hey! Aya!" Naruto grinned while running up to Ayame. He stopped in his tracks right before colliding with Gaara; Naruto stared at the red head straight on, his finger pointed right at the bridge of Gaara's nose. "What is he doing here?! Aya?" Naruto looked over at his teammate in shock. Sasuke walked up to Ayame, his eyes narrowed while glancing at Gaara, then back at her.

"I can explai-" Gaara threw his arm up in front of Ayame while glaring at Naruto and Sasuke. Sasuke reached instinctively to his holster for a kunai, and Naruto rose a fist in defense of Ayame.

"I'm leaving now." He put his arm down and turned to walk away. Ayame stared back at him nervously, then faced the other direction when he was out of sight.

"Hey Aya!" Naruto jabbed at her chest with his index finger. "What were you doing with a shady person like that?" He squinted his eyes and sniffed at her oddly. "You smell strange Aya. Like blood." Naruto's eyes widened in shock as he watched blood pool on the ground. The red liquid dripped down off of Ayame's arm and onto the ground.

"I feel faint..." Ayame stumbled backwards, her good hand holding her wound.

"Ayame!" Sasuke darted forward to catch her as she fell towards the ground. Kakashi had arrived in time to see his student falling unconscious from blood loss. He took the girl in his arms and dashed towards the hospital as fast as he could.

* * *

 

_"Mommy.." Ayame glanced around the white space, she was alone, and as helpless as before. "Mommy I'm scared.."_

_"Aya." An older woman's voice sounded behind the girl. Ayame spun around quickly to see a woman clad in dark garments standing with her arms open._

_"Mommy!" She smiled brightly while running towards the woman. She was embraced tightly, warmth flooding around her as she ran into her arms with an 'oof'. "Mommy I'm a ninja now! I'm so strong!" She looked up at the woman with a grin._

_"That's nice sweetie... too bad you weren't strong enough to save me!" Blood poured from a wound on the woman's neck; Ayame jumped back as the dark liquid pooled on the white 'floor'. The young girl ran towards the woman desperately. When she reached the fallen body, Ayame could see her own reflection in the crimson surface, causing a gasp to escape her lips. Her pupils were dilated and flecks of blood dotted her cheeks._

_"Mommy! No!" She pushed over the body, maggots swarmed over the woman's face, eating away at the surface; her eyes were sunken in, and her mouth was gaping._

"No!" Ayame screamed and sat up suddenly in the hospital bed. Her eyes were crazed as she stared around the room for a familiar face.

"Ayame, you're awake now.. that's a relief… You didn't have ypur blood suppliments on you, you should always have those. " Her pink haired teammate sighed softly, then smiled at the groggy girl in bed. Ayame looked over at Sakura; she was relieved to see her other female companion, she wasn't in the mood for her overwhelming male partners. "I wanted to ask you a question…" She blushed slightly and turned her head away from Ayame.

"What is it Sakura..?" She narrowed her eyes at the her. Sakura looked back at Ayame, her expression hardened and stern.

"What are you doing with the sand ninja?" The question startled Ayame, she hadn't expected something like that from the 'Sasuke- loving, useless' female.

"What's it to you Sakura? What I do is none of your business." She narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth, Ayame wasn't in the mood for stupid questions from stupid girls.

"I get a bad feeling from them! Especially the one you were with today, something doesn't seem right about him." She grabbed Ayame's hand desperately, as if her life depended on Ayame heeding her warning. "Please listen to me Aya.." Her head was bowed and she willed Ayame to listen.

"I can't promise anything Sakura. If I have feelings for somebody, I'm going to get to know them as much as I can. He's not like everybody else, he understands me Sakura. I.. I really like him Sakura…" Ayame found herself rambling on like a lovestruck idiot, but she was one afterall; she found herself thinking about Gaara more than she wanted to, and spilling out more than she wanted to. Sakura giggled and let go of Ayame's hand.

"Looks like I'm not the only person who has somebody they like a lot." Sakura giggled and sat back in the chair. "We should go see Kakashi- sensei, he wanted to tell us something." Ayame nodded her head in agreement and jumped out of the bed and grabbed her clothes that were hanging on the edge of the bed.

"I'll be right back." She smiled and hurried into the bathroom.

After changing, Ayame looked herself over in the mirror. She wore a grey poncho shirt, yet only the sleeves were visible since it was hidden by a grey vest, similar to the Chunin vest, but no collar on it; the vest was cut short and only covered to just above her belly button. From that point down was protected with a skirt that had slits at the side, similar to Sakura's. Her legs were wrapped in bandages that protected her 'woman parts' and thighs. She smiled and tied her headband around her headband around like a necklace. Ayame stepped out of the bathroom and looked over at Sakura leaning against the wall.

"Let's go back to Kakashi- sensei." Sakura smiled as Ayame finished changing and came out. Sakura nodded and walked out of the hospital after Ayame checked out.

"Sasuke~! Naruto!" Sakura called out when they walked outside, Ayame walked after her slowly, keeping her usual composure and cool expression. "Ayame has girly expressions!" She giggled and Ayame stood back in shock. Naruto's eyes narrowed and he smiled mischievously as he approached Ayame.

"Could it be…. Could it be…? Aya has a crush?" His words teased which made her scrunch her nose up in annoyance.

"Shut your face Naruto!" Her cheeks were flushed red and she averted her gaze towards the ground. "Just shut up." Her response made Naruto smirk even more and he jumped away, still smiling.

"Okay that's enough." Kakashi stopped the two and held three strips of paper in his hand. "I've nominated you for the Chunin exams… however, the Hokage only allows for three manned cells, so Ayame, you have to join another team, it's a two manned one that recently lost their third in a mission; you are to join them for the exams." He threw his hands up in the air.

"Hey hey Kakashi- sensei, why does Aya have to join another team?" Naruto pouted while holding his application. He had been looking forward to completing the Chunin exams with her.

"Well I can't change that, I have to take Ayame to meet her temporary team members." Kakashi grabbed Ayame's arm and disappeared with her in a whirlwind of leaves.

* * *

 

"Hey Tatsuo- sensei, when are we getting that new girl?" A red haired boy asked as he hung upside down from a tree branch near the training field. Another man stood underneath The one on the tree; he had a shoulder length black hair and a Jonin vest.

"They're here Ryuu." Tatsuo stated before a whirlwind of leaves appeared before them. Kakashi appeared out of the wind holding Ayame's wrist; she glanced over at the two nervously then back at her sensei.

"I entrust you will take good care of my subordinate during the exams, Tatsuo?" His voice was dark and fierce, Tatsuo smiled nervously at Kakashi and nodded. "Well I leave her to you, have fun Ayame." He smiled behind his mask, then was gone. The boy on the tree jumped down and approached Ayame, looking over the girl intently.

"You're pretty cute. I'm Ryuu, my other teammate, Nao, should be around here somewhere. You're joining us for the Chunin exams right?" Ryuu took her hand and held up his slip. "We should get going to turn our applications in." Ryuu picked up Ayame by the waist and slung her over his shoulder excitedly. Her eye's widened and she furiously kicked out at the boy. Ryuu laughed and set the girl down, his eyes narrowed and challenging. "Let's fight. I want to see your worth to this team." Her eyes darted over to her new temporary sensei and to her surprise her nodded in agreement at her and Ryuu.

"Fine, if you want me to." She growled and grabbed out a blood stained knife. "Ready for this?"

"Anytime now." Ryuu flipped back a few times, watching as Ayame brought the knife down on her palm.

"Blood release: Iron Count!" The knife slashed down in a single swift motion that created a slit going across the middle of her palm. Her fingers moved rhythmically as blood flowed around her hand, weaving in between her fingers. She put her hand out and the blood balled in the palm as she went into her attack stance. Ryuu clicked his tongue in annoyance and reached into his pouch, pulling out two smoke bombs.

"Let's go!" the bombs exploded at her feet and smoke poured around the training field. "Fire release: Dragon's Breath!" He smirked and a flame poured out of his mouth and ignited the smoke, sending Ayame flying across the field. She huffed and narrowed her eyes before throwing her hand out, sending the blood flying across the field. The flecks swirled around Ryuu's feet and climbed up his legs, she turned her hand as if turning a doorknob; when her palm was facing towards the sky, her fingers slowly closed in on her palm. Ryuu howled in pain as the small flecks of blood transformed into hundreds of tiny needles that pierced his flesh.

"Blood release: Crimson Needles." Ayame's voice became colder and she body started shivering. A twisted smile formed on her lips as Ryuu collapsed on the grass, his hands clutching his legs. A flash of silver, five kunai struck the ground at her feet; she glanced around the training field in shock, and a voice sounded from her right side.

"Enough. You've done more than show off your skill." She felt a hand grip her arm and throw her to the grass faster than she was able to react to. "Stay down bitch." His voice hissed in her ear; this shook Ayame back to her usual self and she glared up at him with her crimson eyes. "I know full well what kind of ninjutsu you use. In fact, it's Kekki Genkai, am I right? Blood release… I'm surprised you're still standing, bitch." She presumed this was Nao, her other temporary teammate for the Chunin exams. "You were about to get too dangerous, better you not use that technique for awhile, huh?" He chuckled and took his hand off of her face. "I'm Nao, I specialize as the team's intelligence hub, and medical ninja. My combat is weaponry and stealth. Ryuu is offense with his fire and earth ninjutsu."

"Good to know." Ayame sat up and wiped the dirt off of her cheek, her eyes narrowed and glaring at Nao.

"Hey kids, are you ready for the Chunin exams or what? You have to turn in your applications soon." Their Jonin interrupted, he was smiling as he crouched next to Ryuu. Nao nodded and stood up, his hand stretched out towards Ayame to help her up, but she declined.

"Let the Chunin exams begin." She smirked while dusting off her clothes.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Chunin exams begin and as it does, Ayame finds herself fitting in with her new team even more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably my favorite chapter, and I've gotten compliments from friends that said the humor is well placed. Hope you agree!

 

 

Ayame and her temp team sat in the waiting room for the Chunin exams; the sheer number of those signed up for the exam shocked her. Ryuu and Nao sat together next to each other, the two were unfazed by the mass amount of Genin since they had taken the test before. Ryuu chatted cheerfully with a couple of leaf Genin while Nao half-heartedly joined in on the conversation, his gaze fixed on Ayame.

 

    "I don't trust you." Nao's voice hissed in her ear; Ayame whipped around to glare into his dark grey eyes. Out of the corner of her eye, Ayame caught the familiar auburn haired boy staring at the situation with great interest.

 

    "I don't trust you either. Especially with you calling me a bitch all of the time." She pushed Nao back and narrowed her crimson eyes; the boy irked her, he was pretentious and gave off wishy- washy feelings towards her. Ayame spun around and walked off towards Gaara in a huff; she could tell that Nao was still watching her, but she paid it no mind. Ayame tapped on his shoulder gently, Gaara closed his eyes slowly and turned around, his eyes opening to stare face to face with Ayame.

 

    “Ayame.” He muttered and closed his eyes slowly, Ayame blushed and flicked her eyes to glance around the crowd.

 

    “G-Gaara, I see you made it.” She was at a loss of words, Ayame laughed nervously and scratched the back of her head while Gaara stared at the girl.

 

    “Of course, why wouldn’t I?” She was boring him, but something about her kept him wanting to talk with her. He had to admit she was kind of cute when she got flustered, but it didn’t go any farther than that. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled as he felt a burning stare; he glanced over to his left and his gaze connected with the boy that had been talking to Ayame earlier. Nao’s dark grey eyes were fixed on the two, he couldn’t help feeling a twinge of betrayal in her actions. Gaara could tell that him being near Ayame angered the boy, and it pleased him.

 

    “Gaara..?” Ayame blushed and reached her hand out towards the red haired boy, he responded with a hostile stare that startled Ayame. She flinched as he took a step closer to her, his dark ringed eyes had an evil look in them that she didn’t want to be acquainted with. “Forget it… I have to go back to my squad.” She smiled sweetly before backing off; the action made her stomach twist, and something told her that she should stay near him, but she could ignore her gut instinct that sent her back to her new squad. Maybe it was the sorrow filled feeling that was masked by calmness when she left, or her own feelings that made her stomach twist; either way it hurt while she turned her back on him.

 

    “New girl, come here.” Nao motioned for her to come stand near him; Ayame noticed him and she immediately felt annoyed, Nao caught her look and narrowed his eyes angrily at the girl and pointed next to him. “Come here.” His tone was fierce and his teeth shown while calling for her. Ayame inched over slowly to the shinobi, her eyes locked to his in anger.

 

    “What do you want asshole?” She spat at him.

 

    “Stay with your teammates bitch.” He responded the same and took a fist full of her short dark hair.

 

    “Hey! Hey! Hey! Let go of me asshole!” She growled and tried to grab his wrist so he would let go.

 

    “You’re pretty cute when you’re angry bitch.” Nao teased the girl and poked her forehead with his free hand, while tightening his grip with the other.

 

    “Nao, that’s enough.” Ryuu’s large hand rested on Nao’s shoulder; sighing, Nao let Ayame’s hair go, but not without tossing her back into the crowd to be caught by a couple older Genin. They scowled while staring down at Ayame, who backed away slowly, her cheeks bright red from embarrassment. She trudged back over to her temp team and stood closely to Ryuu, he blushed and put an arm around the girl protectively while glaring at Nao. “Say, Ayame, how old are you?” He smiled down at the short girl and Ayame took a step back from him.

 

    “I’m eleven…” She looked away nervously, her cheeks bright red again.

 

    “WHAT? Eleven?!” Ryuu formed his body into a half- assed crane pose, and sucked his cheeks in like a fish. “That-” He put both of his hands above his head and positioned them like a dancer. “Is-” He kneeled down on the ground, his act was now drawing in a crowd. “So-” His hands reached out and took Ayame’s hands in his, his lips were now puffed out in a kissy expression, now all of the Genin were staring at Ayame and Ryuu. “Cute!” He pecked the top of Ayame’s hand and winked up at her. She stood frozen on the spot while everyone else in the room gasped, gossiped, and laughed.

 

    “Stop it!!” Ayame punched Ryuu square in the jaw, he howled in pain and looked at the young girl with fake tears in his eyes.

 

    “Cmon cute Aya! Don’t be so mean to me! After all, I am two years older than you!” Ryuu placed a hand on top of Ayame’s head and ruffled her short hair while smiling delightfully. “You’re really strong Aya, maybe you can be a Chunin this year.” While Ryuu laughed, Ayame glanced over at Nao who was staring at her intently, his dark silver eyes hid some other intention, was it bloodlust? Ayame wasn’t able to tell, but the look in his eyes scared her. Gasps waved through the crowd as about 10 ninja appeared in a flash of smoke, at the head was an older man whose face had scars running along it.

 

    “Thanks for waiting…” He smirked as his eyes scanned the Genin. “I am Morino Ibiki, the examiner for the Chunin Selection Exam’s first test.” as his eyes combed over the crowd, Ayame could hear the nervous sounds of students gulping as the man raised his hand and pointed into the crowd. “Hidden Sound guys, stop doing as you please before the exam. Do you want to fail already?”

 

    “I apologize… This is our first time and we… Got  bit carried away..” A Genin with bandages on his head stare dead eyed at the examiner, he had started a fight with one of the hidden leaf Genin and got caught by the examiner. Ayame clicked her tongue in annoyance, she knew he was lying, he wasn’t very good at it, or wasn’t trying to disguise his bloodlust very well.

 

    “Here’s a good opportunity to say this..” The examiner started. “There will be no fighting without the permission of the examiner. Even if permission is granted, killing your opponent will not be tolerated. Those pigs that disobey me will be failed failed immediately. Do I make myself clear?” There was now silence around the crowd, the air was tense as the examiner spoke. “We will now start the first test of the Chunin Exam. Instead of your current seating arrangement..” The man held up a stack of cards, the top had a number written in bold black letters. “You will pick one of these tabs and sit in the seat assigned to you. We will then hand out the exams.

 

    “WHAT?!” Naruto’s voice could be heard throughout the room, Ayame glanced over in the direction to find an infuriated Naruto. “A PAPER TEST?!” He screamed again, then fell silent as Morino Ibiki handed out the number tabs. He handed Ayame a tab, she looked down at the number, two bold numbers stared at her. Sixty- two, she scanned the desks near the back and stared down at the seat labeled sixty two.

 

    “Gaara..” Ayame smiled over at the boy sitting next to her. “I’m sorry for walking away earlier, I didn’t want to bother you.” Ayame blushed and her wide smile softened to a sadder one.

 

    “Forget it.” Gaara didn’t bother to look over, only kept staring straight ahead at Morino Ibiki.

 

    “Each of you will start off with 10 points, if all of the questions answered are correct, you keep your ten points. But say you miss three questions, then you will lose three points and have a total of seven points.” The examiner of the first test took up chalk in his hand and wrote the first rule on the board. “Rule two, This is a team test. Whether you pass or fail will be determined by the combined core of all three of your teammates. The third rule is that during the exam, anyone caught by the testing advisors doing sneaky activities, namely cheating, will have two points deducted for each offense. Anybody who loses all ten points will be asked to leave with the rest of your team.” Ayame glanced over at Gaara, he sat calmly, despite all of the pressure put on him. “The pathetic ones that get caught cheating will be destroying themselves. All Shinobi trying to achieve the level of Chunin, be proud ninja.” The proctor examined the crowd again and smirked at the unnerved Genin. “You have one hour to complete the test.”

 

    Ayame took her time to read over the test, carefully examining each question for a more hidden meaning.

 

    “This test… It almost encourages cheating..” She muttered under her breath; the questions were not simple fill in the blanks, but complex math problems and decoding. “Wait..” She scanned the crowd to see a couple of people writing furiously, yet calmly on their test, smirking, Ayame pulled the knife out of her pocket and sliced along her palm. She let the blood drip out onto the floor with a sigh and flicked her index and middle finger, designating the path with her chakra. “We’re supposed to cheat, but not get caught. This shit is easy.” Her fingers curled in and the blood hardened and shifted into the small needles; she could feel her ninjutsu enter the other ninja’s bloodstream and flow up to his hand. Her hand responded reflexively and copied the answer down on her page while shivering slightly. “Almost too easy..” Ayame breathed out after thirty minutes of reflexive writing. By then, she had noticed Gaara swirl sand in his hand, press his forefingers to his eye, and crush an eye like orb in his hand.

 

    As the time passed, teams were dismissed for obvious cheating, Ayame watched as some were drug out screaming, and others walked up shamefully, followed by their teammates that would chew them out later.

 

    “Alright, time for the tenth question.” Ibiki Morino interrupted the testers. They set their pencils down warily and stared up at the proctor. “Now.. Before we get to it, I’d like to go over the rules for this question.” Gasps erupted through the room again, there was some hushed murmurs, but they ceased once Ibiki resumed speaking. “These are the rules of desperation. Firstly, you must decide whether you will take it or not.”

 

    “Choose?!!” Temari interrupted the man, Ayame could sense that she was deeply upset by this new rule. “What happens if we choose not to?!!” Ibiki narrowed his eyes at the blonde girl.

 

    “If you choose not to, your points will be reduced to zero. You fail! along with your teammates.” Two other Genin shouted out in anger at the proctor; Ibiki ignored them and continued with the rules. “And now… The other rule. If you chose to take it and end up answering incorrectly, that person will lose the right to take the Chunin selection exam ever again.”

 

    “What kind of stupid rule is that?!” One of her previous classmates, the boy with a dog on his head yelled. “There are guys here who have taken the Chunin exam before!!” The crowd was shocked into silence, nobody dared utter a word.

 

    “You guys were unlucky.” Ibiki smiled slightly. “This year it’s my rules. I am giving you a way out. Those who aren’t confident enough can chose not to take it… And try again next year. Now let's begin the tenth question. Those that do not wish to take it, raise your hand. Once your number is confirmed, leave.” After a couple minutes of silence, a hand was raised.

 

    “I.. I won’t take it!” one called out before gathering his teammates and leaving. Another raised their hand.

 

    “I’m sorry… Gennai.. Inoho..” The Chunin with clipboards around the room started calling out the cell numbers of those who raised their hand. Ayame glanced over at Sakura who was feebly starting to raise her hand before Naruto beat her to it.

 

    “DON’T UNDERESTIMATE ME!!!” His hand slammed down at full force on the table before him as he screamed. “I WILL NOT RUN!!!! I’LL TAKE IT!! EVEN IF I’M A GENIN FOREVER..!! I’LL WILL MYSELF TO BECOME HOKAGE ANYWAY, SO I DON’T CARE!!” His voice rang throughout the room, Ayame smirked at the courage her friend had; she knew that he always had it in him to be great, maybe this was his time to shine.

 

    “I’ll ask you again. Your life is riding on this decision. This is your last chance to quit.” Ibiki stared the fox boy straight in the eyes.

 

    “I follow my unbending words, that is my ninja way.” Ayame could tell that Naruto was scared, he needed to pass this test for the sake of Sasuke and Sakura. Though he did have guts, she had to admit that part; he was gutsy, and that’s what Ayame liked about Naruto. She glanced over at Gaara, he returned her look and to her surprise, the corners of his lips curled into a very faint smile. His sudden action made Ayame’s cheeks hot, she wasn’t able to look at him, despite how much she wanted to.

 

    “To the 78 who remain…” The examiner’s voice shook Ayame out of her thoughts. “Congratulations on passing the first test!!” Ayame stared wide- eyed at the examiner, there was no tenth question. she bit down on her thumb, blood welled up from the cut she had made. Ayame sighed as the liquid washed over her tongue, soothing her nerves. She could hear the startled yells of a few who were pissed off about the writing section.

 

    “We passed Gaara.” Ayame’s voice was hushed as she turned to the boy with a relieved smile. His aquamarine eyes met her crimson ones, he nodded slightly in agreement, then turned back towards the proctor. “Hey..” Ayame tired to get the attention of Gaara again; he looked over at Ayame, she was starting to get on his nerves with her clinginess, but the fact that she kept talking to him made something stir within his chest.

 

    “What is it?” He demanded from the girl. Ayame lips curled into a sheepish smile and her index fingers poked together nervously. Gaara narrowed his eyes at the girl, hoping that she would say something and stop acting strange.

 

    “I just wanted to congratulate you.. I’m surprised you stayed so calm, I was shaking half of the time.” Ayame giggled nervously as she spoke, her rambling made her feel like an idiot, but she hoped that Gaara would understand where she was coming from.

 

    “This is nothing.” Gaara remarked; he figured by now she was just saying things so that she was able to keep his attention. He turned his attention towards the front of the front of the room where Ibiki was still talking. He then turned back towards Ayame, she smiled softly when he turned towards the girl. “Are you scared?” His voice was cold and mocking as he asked the question. Ayame was taken aback at his sudden hostility, he was unlike the boy she had sat with last night in the park, this Gaara was strange, he was emotionless, like a shell that held a demon.

 

    “I’m a little scared…” She had to admit; she’d be lying if she said she was all fine. Ayame knew at some point that she would cross paths with Gaara, being forced to fight him. “I’m not going to lie to you.” She put on her best smile for him, he narrowed his eyes in annoyance; the kunoichi wasn’t going to leave him be anytime soon. Thoughts popped up in his head, maybe he should just kill her, be rid of the pest. “Gaara?” Her hand moved towards his, she wanted to at least try to see if this was the same boy she had befriended the previous night. His hand retracted when he noticed her reaching out to him, Gaara glared at Ayame, she was now starting to really aggravate him, he had to remain calm however, he would kill her later when he had the chance to. The crashing of glass sent Gaara back to reality; a black- cloaked object flew into the room. Shuriken flew off and latched themselves to the ceiling to reveal a woman within the black fabric.

 

    “YOU GUYS!!!” Her voice boomed around the room. “This is no time to be celebrating! I am the examiner for the second test! Mitarashi Anko! Follow me!” Her hand rose into the air to try and rally the crowd. The genin stared at her strangely, this woman was too full of energy. “78..!?” The woman turned towards Ibiki Morino. “You left 26 teams? The test was too easy this time!”

 

    “This time..” He said. “There are a lot of outstanding ones.”

 

    “Bah, that’s fine, I’ll at least cut them in half in the second test. Ahh….” Anko’s eyes narrowed and her whole body trembled. “I’m getting excited… I’ll explain everything once we’ve changed locations, follow me.”

 

* * *

 

    Ayame was reunited with her temp squad when they reached the forest of death; Ryuu came up from Ayame and covered her eyes playfully.

 

    “Oi, stupid. Let me go.” She pressed her blood- stained knife against Ryuu’s leg nonchalantly.

 

    “Okay, Okay!” Ryuu chuckled and jumped in front of Ayame, his blue eyes looking down at her cheerfully. Cute Aya! How did you do on the test? I did horribly….” He ruffled her hair and he batted his hand away.

 

    “Stupid. The test was easy, you just needed to know where to look.” Ayame narrowed her eyes as she stared up at him. Ayame couldn’t help but to smile softly up at him, he was so cheerful and nice to Ayame.

 

    “Hey you two.” Nao’s cold voice interrupted the two. “Stop flirting, it makes me look bad.” He put his hand in between Ayame and Ryuu while smirking. Ryuu’s cheeks flushed bright red and his eyes glanced to the side.

 

    “Aya’s like a little sister to me. Why would I flirt with her… Nao..?” Ryuu emphasized his name and smiled wryly at Nao. There was intense tension between the two, jokingly, Ayame pulled her knife back out and made a cutting motion with it. Nao couldn’t help but to chuckle a little at her joke, he poked the girl in her forehead and stood next to her.

 

    “You’re an idiot Ayame.” Nao stared straight ahead to listen to the the examiner.

 

    “You’ll soon find out why this place is called the forest of death.”

 

    “You think that scares me?! That’s nothing! I’m not afraid!!” Naruto pointed straight at the examiner, his eyes were narrowed as he pointed at Anko. In a flash of dark metal, a kunai flew past Naruto, nicking his cheek. In a flash, she was gone, and not a second later, Anko reappeared behind Naruto. She placed a hand on a shoulder, and the other on his cheek.

 

    “Kids like you are easily killed…” She giggled while running her tongue along his cheek. “Spraying that red blood I love..”

 

    Ayame glanced up at Nao who had scoffed when the examiner threw her kunai. His black hair hid his eyes and the killer instinct beneath them.

 

    “Nao…?” She tugged on his sleeve gently, Nao looked down at her and forced a smile, he couldn’t let himself look bad in front of a rookie. “You’re acting strange Nao, Stop it.” She jabbed a finger into his side and glared up at Nao; he returned her glare, then just for the fun of scaring her, he decided to do something even stranger.

 

    “ **HYAH**!!” Nao screamed in her ear and made a chopping motion that came down swiftly right on the middle of her head. Ayame’s eyes went white and she fell back after his hand hit her head; as fast as she could. Ayame regained her composure and glared up at Nao again.

 

    “What the hell was that for Nao?!” Tears streamed down her cheeks and her finger rested on Nao’s shirt. Ryuu swept in as fast as he could and grabbed Ayame from behind, cradling her body close to his.

 

    “ _Aya…_ ” His voice was low in her ear; it brought a blush to Ayame’s cheeks, and she fought hard to keep her composure. His arms suddenly dropped her on the dirt and Ryuu now jabbed his finger at Nao’s headband. “What the hell was that for?! You’re a total dick for hurting cute Aya!” Nao narrowed his eyes and pointed at Ayame laying on the ground face up and clearly pissed off. She leapt to her feet and glared at the both of them while cracking her knuckles.

 

    “You two are worse than Naruto and Sasuke.” She jabbed her fist into the backs of their necks, knocking both out. She stood on top of their bodies and rubbing the underside of her nose. “ _ **Super effective~!**_ ” Ayame declared while leaning down and examining the two boys. “Now get your lazy asses up, you play dead well, but you can’t fool me, idiots.” Ayame glanced around to see most of the Genin staring at them again. She noticed Gaara’s aquamarine eyes watching the commotion from a few feet away; their eyes met when she looked over at him, but she became flustered quickly and looked down at the ground. When she looked back, Gaara had turned his back towards the instructor, his eyes were shut and arms crossed like usual, but something was off about how he reacted.

 

    Gaara fought to keep his face from contorting in disgust at the girl. She had acted differently the previous night, she was more tolerable than how she was acting now. Yet, he couldn’t help but think of the drawing of him and her underneath the kanji ‘love’. She had acted cute when he washed away her drawing with his sand, but it was hard for him to entirely admit it from his viewpoint of others. Either way, he concluded, she was a hindrance to him and needed to be erased from existence. Nao narrowed his eyes when he noticed Ayame staring at the sand Genin again. He didn’t like the looks of him one bit, he seemed like a cold blooded murderer, who wouldn’t hesitate to kill anybody who got in his way. Once again, Gaara caught Nao staring right at him, and again felt the same feeling of hatred being projected onto him from Nao.

 

    “Ayame,” Nao grabbed the girl’s sleeve and pulled her close to his body. Ayame reacted automatically, the palm of her hand swept across Nao’s face in one motion, leaving a red mark on his cheek.

 

    “Don’t touch me Nao; remember this, we are only in this squad temporarily. I’m taking the place of your dead teammate, and I won’t… Mark my words… Won’t come to like you at any point in time during this chunin exam.” Nao’s hand moved to grab the collar of her shirt and pull her face up to his. His dark silver eyes stared straight into her crimson eyes; as their eyes locked, Nao could feel his blood boiling beneath the skin, he wanted to tear this girl to shreds, leave nothing of her behind.

 

    “Don’t dirty Makoto’s name with your bitch mouth. I would just love…” He had to stop himself before his words crossed the line.

 

    “You would just love to what Nao?” She smirked while he held her shirt.

 

    “Forget it.” Nao released his grip on her shirt and turned away towards the examiner, who now was halfway through explaining the rules.

 

    “You will fight over these two scrolls, the ‘heaven’ and ‘earth’. There are 78 people here, so 26 teams… 13 will get the ‘heaven scroll’ and the other half will get the ‘earth scroll’. To pass the test, your team must make it to the tower with both scrolls. She held up both of the scrolls in her right hand and scanned over the crowd. “The second test will last exactly five days; during that time you must secure resources and a second scroll.” Anko smiled brightly, then held her hand straight in front of her. “Now what will disqualify you: First, those that do not make it to the tower with both scrolls within the time limit. Second, those who lose a teammate or those who have a teammate killed. There is no quitting in the middle of the exam, you will be in the forest for five days. The last and final rule; you must not look inside of the scroll until you make it to the tower.”

 

    “What happens if you do?” Naruto interrupted, his voice was low and was hard for Ayame to hear. She felt a presence next to her left ear and glanced over to see Nao’s lips moving, but no sound coming out. She narrowed her eyes in confusion, and to her surprise, Nao let out a chuckle and stood back up. Ayame’s eyes followed his form and he became to speak.

 

    “You hear that bitch? Don’t go dying on us.”

 

    “The same goes for you, I still haven’t seen your combat skills, so who knows how pathetic you really are?” She smiled sweetly and clenched her fists. Nao groaned, he had wanted to piss her off, but her smart reply had pissed him off instead. He took a step back and noticed now Ryuu’s eyes on him. Ryuu felt a burning sensation run through his arms, almost as if his being wanted to hurt his teammate. He sighed to contain himself, Nao had been extremely distant since Makoto died; he was what kept the group going in harsh times.

 

* * *

 

    _“Makoto!” Nao leaned over his teammate’s bleeding body; there small cuts in his chest, and senbon needles in lethal pressure points. “Makoto answer me!!” The boy screamed and his teammate opened his eyes slowly._

 

_“...N-Nao….” He choked out, his chest rising and falling painfully with each breath. “....I’m glad you’re okay….” Ryuu watched helplessly as Nao leaned over his friend’s body, unable to do anything._

 

_“Stop talking Makoto! Please! I can save you!” Chakra shown around his hand as he brought it down to Makoto’s chest. “Just wait a little longer Makoto, you’ll be fine.” Nao sobbed._

 

_“Don’t waste your time….. I’m not worth saving…” He pushed away Nao’s hand weakly and smiled up at him. “...I’m sorry Nao… I-I-” Makoto let out a pained cough and blood shot from his mouth. “I guess you win this bet… huh Nao..?” He chuckled before his hand relaxed in the dirt. Nao beat his fist on the dirt and glared over at Ryuu._

 

_“Don’t just sit there idiot!! Help me save Makoto!!” Nao’s silver eyes stared around wildly, then refocused back onto Makoto. “Open your eyes!!” He screamed while grabbing onto his shoulders. Tatsuo grabbed Nao around his waist and pulled him away from his deceased teammate. The dark haired boy flailed madly in his sensei's arms, kicking and screaming, and trying to get back to his friend._

 

_“It’s no use Nao; he’s gone. There was nothing you could do.” His sensei said as he set the boy down. Ryuu walked over and kneeled next to Makoto, his hands searching for a pulse. Nao ran back towards Makoto; he brought his fist out and threw it violently at Ryuu, hitting him square in the jaw._

 

_“This is your fault Ryuu!! It should have been you that died!!” Nao Screamed as Ryuu placed his hand on his cheek to ebb away the pain. Nao kneeled over Makoto’s body as sobs shook him._

 

* * *

 

  “A final word of advice, don’t die.” The examiner warned before stepping away; Ryuu turned and walked off to grab three forms,  then returned swiftly to his team.

 

    “Here cute Aya, and here Nao.” He held out the slip to him with a smile on his face, and Nao took the slip with a forced smile. They only took two minutes to fill out the form and turn them in; they stood in line for a scroll, and finally one of the ninja called them up. Nao was given the scroll, and he took it with a smirk on his face. “Let’s go find a gate.” Ryuu smiled when they left the booth; he reached out to grab Ayame’s hand, then to grab Nao’s.

 

    “Don’t touch me Ryuu.” He took his hand back from the red haired Genin with a dark look on his face. The look that he gave Ryuu made Ayame shudder, he looked as if he would really kill his own teammate.

 

    “Nao, don’t be so short tempered.” She placed a finger on his headband and smiled sweetly up at him. He stumbled backwards, shocked at her sudden gesture, and how similar it was to what Makoto would say and do when Nao got upset with Ryuu. Though, this was a girl that was two years younger than him.

 

    “Yeah..” His cheeks flushed red while puffing his cheeks out at Ayame indignantly. “You’re a real pain Ayame.” He huffed and turned away from her. They had taken their place at the gate, and waited for the signal to start the second exam.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ayame finds out things she didn't want to know about Gaara.

After 30 minutes of waiting, the Chunin guarding the gate to the forest pulled his key out of his back pocket and twirled it. He smirked at the three Genin, then stuck it into the lock, then proceeded to remove the chains.

 

    “Have fun kiddos.” He chuckled and flung the gates open for them; Ayame took a step in, then jumped up into a nearby tree, she scanned the area quickly, taking in all that she could before jumping back down to her squad.

 

    “What’d you see Aya?” Ryuu smiled as she landed next to him.

 

    “Nothing outstanding, they distanced our squads enough to keep everybody from being able to spot one another. If one of us sticks to the shadows and looks ahead of us, we should be able to spot another team…” She stopped for a moment to glance over at Nao. “But that also means getting into close proximity with the enemy and gathering info on what scroll or scrolls they have.” Nao was now walking ahead of them, he pulled on the top of his turtleneck while staring off into the forest.

 

    “I guess that will be me then.” He sighed loudly and turned towards the two. “What is our rendezvous location?”

 

    “We’ll set up a small camp, and then you go off while me and Ryuu secure food and water. Day one will be securing resources and intel gathering; day two will be preparation for our ambush of the scroll we need; day three will be us reaching the tower. Unless we can do it in half of the time… use the rest of today to gather intel, eat something very very light, since I only brought a couple snacks, then prepare tomorrow and gather food. Which sounds better?” By now they were all crouched in a triangle, Ayame had made detailed notes in the dirt as she talked.

 

    “I like the second, since it’s already noon.” Ryuu spoke up. “But…” He continued. “The second plan involves all of us splitting up and gathering intel, am I mistaken?”

 

    “That’s the thing, if something happens to one of this, we won’t know until we meet u again. There needs to be a password of somesort... “

 

    “How about we ask something that only we would know to each of us? Like I would ask a question that only us three would know. Something along the lines of, I could ask Nao what our first mission was, and if he didn't know, then I will assume he’s the enemy.”

 

    “Where will we meet up?” Nao chimed in, he glanced at the both of them, his dark silver eyes were narrowed.

 

    “I saw a river nearby, we’ll walk there and make our camp, then depart. How does that sound?” Ayame stood up and motioned for the boys to follow her through the trees. The three glided through the trees effortlessly, and after a few minutes, they reached the riverside.

 

    “Let’s set up here, the bushes will give us cover.” Nao stopped near the edge and turned towards the other two, his eyes scanning around. “We meet back here at sundown I presume?”

 

    “Yeah, let’s go.” She handed each an energy bar, then motioned with her hand to depart.

* * *

 

 

    Ayame glided silently through the forest, weaving in and out of the branches, listening to any sound that would give away clues to where her enemies were. She stopped for a brief moment on a large branch to gather her breath; Ayame pressed her ear up against the trunk to seek out the sounds of her enemies. She closed her eyes to amplify her hearing and waited patiently.

 

    “There!” She pulled her body away from the trunk and smirked. “50 meters north… and moving this way.” Ayame took out her knife and ran it down her palm; she watched as blood bubbled up at the surface, she pressed her body against it and smiled. Her body melted against the trunk and blended with the dark wood. After two minutes of waiting, the team passed by and stopped on the branch.

 

    “Ew! Looks like a team was killed already!” A girl exclaimed as she stared at fabricated dead bodies.

 

    “Let’s search them for materials and see if they have the scroll we need.” One of the boys kneeled down and searched the fabricated corpses, digging through invisible bags and pockets. “Man.. They have a Heaven Scroll, not the one we need.” Ayame watched him stand up, and stuff air into his pocket.

 

    “Maybe we can get a good trade for this, but for now, let’s go.” The other boy sighed and jumped off towards the east with his other teammates. Ayame sighed and stepped out from her hidden location; she jumped off into the west to  find another team that would hopefully have the Earth Scroll. As she jumped through the trees, Ayame spotted another team crouched behind a few bushes, their eyes fixed on something in front of the bushes.

 

    “Oh it’s team Asuma, maybe I can steal off of these chumps.” She landed on a branch just above them, poised to strike, Ayame noticed the familiar auburn haired boy. “Gaara… and he’s taking on a team of scary looking Genin..” She gripped the bottom of her shirt and watched helplessly as the leader of the opposing team fired senbon needles at Gaara. In an instant, sand formed around Gaara to protect him from the onslaught of needles. Gaara said a few words to the Genin, then sand encased the enemy; Gaara’s hand was held out in front of him as he spoke to the Genin. Ayame watched in horror as his hand started to close and she could hear the cracking of bones, then the screaming of the Genin, and lastly, the sound of blood splattering on the ground before him.

 

    “He’s.. a…” She shook her head to stop herself from muttering the last word, she couldn't think of him that way. “...Gaara…” She was wound up in herself and didn’t notice him murder the other two Genin. She looked over at his standing figure to see him turn his head towards her and stick his hand out. She could see Temari trying to reason with him, and he blatantly ignored her.

 

    “It’s her again.” Gaara muttered under his breath as he spotted Ayame up in the tree. His hand started to close, now would be the perfect time to kill her and be rid of the pest. Sand started flitting about in the air around the bushes and the tree, and Gaara watched as Ayame’s eyes started to fill with water.

 

    “GAARA!!!” Temari yelled, jolting him from his thoughts of killing Ayame. His hand closed suddenly, then opened slightly while holding the cork of his gourd in between his index and thumb.

 

    “Fine….” He placed the cork in the top and it squeaked as he twisted it into the hole. He glared up at her once more up at Ayame, yet she was gone and he turned the other way, his chance had slipped through his fingers.

* * *

 

    Ayame sped back to camp, her heart was racing and her breath was coming in ragged gasps. When she returned to the riverside, she laid down on the grass and looked up at the sky. She had only been out for about an hour, but she had no motivation since she had become face to face with death. Even though it was a forest, she had managed to find the one spot where she could stare up at the bright blue sky. Ayame watched the clouds drift lazily by, they were peaceful and they made her eyelids feel heavy. She couldn’t fight the sleepiness that she felt coming onto her.

 

* * *

 

    “Oi! Idiot, wake up.” Nao nudged her with his foot, trying to be gentle. Ayame opened her eyes slowly and stared up at the boy.

 

    “What’s the first thing you said to me?” She questioned.

 

    “Enough. You’ve done more than show off your skill.” He stared down at Ayame as she sat up. “And I pushed your face against the grass.” He smirked as if proud of that action. “Why did I do that?”

 

    “Because I was shaking after using crimson needles.” She stated. “Now what information have you gathered?” Nao was sitting next to Ayame, his arms propping his body up.

 

    “I found three teams, two of which had Earth scrolls, and one with both, heading for the tower. Both Earth scroll holders are from the hidden rain village, they don’t look too hard to take on, but also don’t look too easy. There’s one with three girls, and one with two guys and a girl. what about you?”

 

    “Only ran into one team, they had the Heaven scroll.”

 

    “You really are an idiot. you probably gave up and came back here to sleep, huh?” Nao chuckled and glanced over at Ayame; she turned her head to look at him, and she noticed a pink tinge on his cheeks. “But.. I.. I kind of like that idiocy..” Nao rubbed the underside of his nose with is index finger and looked out onto the river. “Ayame.. You don’t really like that sand guy do you?” His sudden question shocked Ayame, Nao was the last person she’s expect to ask that.

 

    “What’s it to you?” Her eyes narrowed sceptically; maybe it wasn't the Nao she knew, from what she knew of him, he was acting strange.

 

    “Forget I asked. Anyways, where’s Ryuu?”

 

    “I’m right here lovebirds.” He stepped out from behind the bushes and chuckled while eyeing the two. “Having fun?” Nao stood up and reached to his shuriken pouch while gritting his teeth and glaring at Ryuu.

 

    “What did I say to you when we got back from that mission?” Nao snarled. Ryuu’s face contorted in grief and his eyes averted to the ground.

 

    “I’ll make you pay for what you did to Makoto, even if it’s the last thing I do before I die.” Ryuu choked out the words and looked up at the two.

 

    “Don’t forget that.” Nao motioned for Ryuu to come near the two, and Ryuu walked up slowly. “Anyways, what did you find?”

 

    “I didn’t find anything.” He threw his hands up and chuckled nervously. “I ran into zero teams.” Nao sighed and sat down on the grass next to Ayame.

 

    “Then I’m the only person who found any teams worth going after. We’ll go after the team with two guys and a girl, they seemed the most unstable. We’ll rest tonight, then go after them at daybreak; one person will keep watch and we’ll alternate every 2 hours. I brought food pills we can eat in the morning, for now, we rest.” Nao Laid back on the grass and stared up above him as pinks and reds painted the evening sky. “You take first shift Ayame, since you’ve slept enough already.” He closed his eyes slowly, and drifted off to sleep as Ayame stood guard.

 

    The two hours dragged on as Ayame kept watch, nothing extraordinary happened, and with fifteen minutes remaining on watch, she heard the soft footsteps of Ryuu approaching her from behind.

 

    “Do you mind if I sit and talk for awhile?” Ryuu placed a hand on her shoulder reassuringly and smiled through the darkness.

 

    “Sure, it’s been pretty lonely for awhile, what’s on your mind?” Ayame poked at the grass with a stick and spoke spoke softly.

 

    “Don’t mind Nao, Aya. He has a sharp tongue, but he means well. I know we’ve only known each other for a short time, but Nao’s taken a liking to you. I guess it’s because you remind him of Makoto, you do the same thing by touching your fingers to his forehead, and you have some of the same reactions as Makoto.”

 

    “Is that so..?”

 

    “Yeah, but.. I can tell you have feelings for that red haired Sand Genin. The way you look at him says it all.”

 

    “I see..” Ayame blushed and looked down at the grass again. Ryuu smiled and ruffled Ayame’s hair.

 

    “It’s okay, the heart will lead you to who you are fated to be with Aya, don’t let your brain tell you who to be with.” Ryuu looked across the water and closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again slowly. “Go get some sleep now, one of us will wake you up when it’s time to attack.” Ayame stood up and took a few steps away from Ryuu before turning around.

 

    “You act like you don’t know much, but you’re a smart guy Ryuu.” She said to him. She laid down on the grass and closed her eyes to sleep.

 

    Hours later, she was awoken again, not by Nao, but by Ryuu shaking her violently.

 

    “Get up and be quiet, the team the we were going to ambush has found us. This is our chance, Nao is already in the midst of fighting one of them.” He jumped back as a kunai hit the ground near her face, and Ayame scrambled to her feet.

 

    “Hey girlie! You look a bit young to be in the Chunin exams. I’ll give you this chance to retreat while you can.” She cackled while pulling out another kunai.

 

    “Fat chance of that. I’m no coward.” Ayame brought her knife out and slashed along her palm. “Iron Count!” Blood bubbled out of her palm and formed a sphere in the middle of her hand. “You ready for this bitch?” Ayame smirked and pulled out a pill from her back pocket and shoved it in her mouth.

 

    “Water release: Explosion bubbles!”  She blew bubbles out of her mouth and they flew at Ayame, reflecting off of the moonlight. “Now, explode.” The bubbles then burst with intense pressure, knocking Ayame back and sending her skidding across the dirt.

 

    “Crimson needles.” The blood in her hand flew across the field and splattered around the rain kunoichi. Ayame smirked and closed her fist and the drops of blood formed into tiny iron needles. They flew at the girl and she jumped up to avoid them, Ayame then threw another sphere of the warm liquid, it scattered above her opponent’s body. “Blood release: Crimson Rain.” The blood fell onto the girl’s body, dotting it with red and making her yelp in disgust.

 

    “You! You’re a freak!” She screamed.

 

    “It’s my Kekkei Genkai.. Now die!” Ayame’s body was shuddering, and her pupils had dilated. She closed her hand again and the liquid transformed into iron once more and dug into her body, they burrowed through until they had made holes throughout her whole body. “Iron Onslaught.” The tiny iron balls gathered above her body, and when she smacked the ground, they impaled themselves into her now dead body. While her body hit the ground, she felt strong arms grab her from behind. Two more hands grabbed her outstretched arms and she could faintly make out Nao’s voice.

 

    “That’s enough, she’s dead already. Snap out of it.” He dug his nails into her shoulders which in turn caused her pupils to return to the usual size. She stared at her closed, outstretched fists in horror, she was just like Gaara, a monster and a heartless murderer. “let’s make our way to the tower quickly, I want to leave this shitty forest.” Nao hit the back of her neck causing her world to be enveloped in darkness.

 

* * *

 

    “Hey, wake up.” Nao shook her again and she stared around groggily.

 

    “We’re at the tower… we did it in only a day..” She smiled brightly and sat up in front of the tower doors.

 

    “Yeah, we have both scrolls, now get up so we can get this damn exam over with.” He helped Ayame to her feet and Ryuu pressed the doors open to the tower. All three stared up at a large sign on the wall and Nao pulled out both scrolls, holding them up to the board.

 

    “Heaven is the mind, Earth is the body. It’s the Chunin motto, I’ve read it before in the academy library.” Ayame exclaimed proudly. “Open the scrolls.” She looked at the two boys and they nodded before pulling the flap that extended into writing. The scroll started to smoke when it was fully extended and the boys dropped them in shock. A large cloud of smoke exploded from the scrolls, and there was the academy teacher Iruka before them.

 

    "Congratulations on passing the test so quickly Team Tatsuo! Since you three have four days left, you three will be given board here for the remainder of the exam. Don't worry, you can train as much as you want, and we have a conservatory at the top where you can relax with beautiful plants." Iruka coughed suddenly. "Sorry I'm supposed to say that line. It's to promote the nature center." All three Genin stared up at him and he chuckled nervously. "If you will follow me now, we'll get you situated."

 

    Ayame took a long hot shower after she had settled down into the small room; she had killed a girl, an actual human; something she swore to never do again. She gripped her sides as fat tears ran down her cheeks. A soft knock at the door caused her to snap out of her funk, and she turned the water down slightly.

 

    "I'll be done in a second!" She called out. Ayame turned the water completely off and stepped out of the shower; she grabbed the nearest towel and wrapped it around her body before opening the door.

 

    "It's you!" Gaara's female teammate exclaimed half excitedly, half nervously.

 

    "I forget your name.." Ayame smiled embarrassedly and Gaara's teammate sighed.

 

    "It's Temari." She held her hand out for Ayame to shake it.

 

    "Ayame." Ayame took her hand, shook it, then went on back to her room to change into some new clothes she had gotten with the teleportation ninja. After she had put her clothes on, Ayame decided to walk up to the conservatory at the top of the tower to relieve her nerves. She walked up many countless stairs to finally reach the top observatory in the tower. The conservatory was filled with various plants. Everywhere she looked, there were blooming flowers, exotic and indigenous; Trees that she had only seen in picture books from foreign lands, and ones she could look outside and see. The view was stunning, there were patches of well kept grass where she was able to gaze up at the sky through the glass dome, and dirt paths that she could walk down to observe the nature before her. As she walked, Ayame came across a river, and as she crossed the wooden bridge, she noticed koi swimming in the clear waters. there was real rock that lined the walls, and she stared in awe as water dripped down the moss that dotted the surface. There were paths made from the rock that climbed upwards so that she could look over the entire area; she held onto the rope as she walked up and down the rock, then made her way to sit on a bench. She felt uneasy after a while, as if somebody was silently watching her every move, she glanced around, but could see nobody. She shrugged and went over to lay in the grass and stare up at the sky.

 

    “You aren’t dead.” a voice called to her and she looked over to her right to find Gaara hanging from a tree branch by the concentrated chakra on his feet. She was somewhat startled, but tried to mask it by smiling up at him, she was frightened, yet also overjoyed to see him.

 

    “You made it here first then?” She asked, yet he didn’t respond. His body disappeared in a flash, then reappeared next to her. “Gaara?” She tried to get his attention after moments of uneasy silence. “You don’t hate me do you?” His aquamarine eyes flickered and he sat down on the grass next to her while contemplating what to say.

 

    “Hate is an understatement. You make me feel different, and I can’t figure out if it’s a good different. Something in me wants to kill you right here and now; just crush your body.” He was unnaturally calm as he said the words and it frightened Ayame even more. She never thought that there would be a side like this to him, yet then again, she had only known him for a little while.

 

    “I’m sorry..” Was all she managed to squeak out. Gaara diverted his attention to plucking at the grass. it was odd for somebody to be apologizing to him, people never gave him the time of day to talk to him, or even acknowledge his presence; and if they did, it was always name calling, demon, monster, evil, the list went on. But here was this girl, again, treating him with kindness and respect; his brain had a hard time processing it, it had been years since somebody treated him this way, yet that was just an act anyways. His expression grew somber looking and Ayame reached out instinctively to comfort him, the drew her hand back to her own body. “Gaara?”

 

    “Hm?” His cold eyes stared into her crimson ones which were full of curiosity and wonder. He could feel the stirrings of the Shukaku inside of him  quell, that strange feeling arose from within him again.

 

    “Nevermind.” her cheeks seemed to glow with a pink and she threw her hands up defensively. “I should get going though! I need to rest and prepare myself for the next exam!” Ayame jumped up and ran off; her chest was pounding and her whole body felt warm.

 

    The next four days, Ayame avoided him to the best of her ability, and as more teams started to show up, she found it was easier to preoccupy herself with other tasks. She bathed with Hinata, Tenten, and Ino, played a couple games of Shogi with Shikamaru and got so close to winning, walked with Kiba and Akamaru around the conservatory, talked casually with Temari over tea while trying to avoid the subject of Gaara as best as she could, watched Lee, Neji, and Tenten spar, and hung around her teammates for the following four days. Every once and awhile, Gaara crossed her mind and she tried her hardest to shake it off.

 

    As the fifth day dawned, the examiners called down the resting Genin to line up in the main hall for a speech. As Ayame scanned the remaining 7 teams, she was relieved to see her actual team, Team Kakashi standing there, beat up, but alive and well. The Third Hokage proceeded to go on a long speech about how the Chunin exams were founded; all of the teams stayed silent and listened respectively as the Hokage spoke, then when he was done, another man stepped up. He was about the same age as the other examiners, and introduced himself as Hayate. He explained the rules of the third exam, and that these would be preliminary battles to determine who would go onto the real competition.

 

* * *

 

    They watched on the floor as a screen flashed with names, it stopped on Sasuke’s name, and another Genin’s name. The rest of the teams took their places on the balconies that overlooked the hall.

 

    After many fights and people leaving on stretchers, half dead, whining, unconscious, or somewhat injured, there were only a couple fights remaining. Ayame scanned the remaining Genin that were waiting anxiously to do battle.

 

    “Me, Nao, Ryuu, Choji, Lee, Hidden sound guy… Gaara…” She stumbled over his name, half scared, half blushing. “Ryuu?” She turned towards the fiery haired boy and he looked back at her questioningly. “There’s an odd number, what happens then?”

 

    “Well usually that person gets the choice to fight in the preliminaries, or quit.” Names rolled across the screen, and for a few tense moments, the remaining competitors stared up at the screen. Before the names stopped rolling, sand swirled around around Gaara and his body reappeared on the floor as the names stopped. Gaara vs. Lee. Lee jumped down onto the floor, he had a large grin on his face as Gaara stared at him with his plain one.

 

    “My, my, this will be an interesting fight.” A cool and familiar voice spoke in her ear and Ayame whipped around, her hand balled into a fist, and while she was turning, her wrist was caught by a large hand. “Hey now Aya, I just came to watch the exams!”

 

    “Aukoku!” She exclaimed looking into crimson eyes.

 

    “Hey there little sister.” He rubbed head affectionately and smiled down at his short little sister. Ryuu stared at the two at a loss for words, his blue eyes moving from the brother, then back to Ayame.

 

    “Wait Ayame, you have a brother??” Ayame and Aukoku turned to stare at Ryuu with their same hue of crimson eyes.

 

    “Yeah, he’s the red beast of Konoha…” Ayame pointed at her brother with a blank face as Ryuu’s eyes sparkled with admiration.

 

    “No way!! He’s your brother?? The red beast?!” A hand landed on Ryuu’s head and Aukoku stared into his eyes.

 

    “What do you want with my little sister huh? You don’t have the hots for her do you?” The was a large crash that made everybody in the room turn their attention towards the match. Lee moved with tremendous speed around the area, he threw punches and kicks that came extremely close to hitting Gaara. Ayame watched the match while holding her breath as finally, a hit landed on Gaara’s head.

 

    “LEE!!! EXPLODE!!!” His sensei yelled encouragingly at his student.

 

    “YES!!” He disappeared for a moment, only to reappear next to the unsuspecting Gaara. His fist connected against his cheek once more, this one sent Gaara skidding across the floor. Sand started falling off of Gaara’s face, he was grinning, the grin was sickening, he seemed unstable and enraged, but thrilled and amused at the same time. Sand started covering his body, filling in the cracks on his face, and returning his expression back.

 

    Ayame shivered, it was so similar to the red iron skin jutsu that she had seen her brother use before. She turned to look at her older brother, his red eyes were widened in shock. Lee looked up at his teacher, then smiled softly. He started to run in circles around Gaara, faster and faster until the naked eye could not keep up with it.

 

    "AS YOU WISH..." He stopped for less than an instant in front of Gaara. A foot connected with Gaara's chin, sending him up into the air. "IT'S NOT OVER YET!!" Lee kicked him up further while undoing bandages along his arms. Gaara's sand were only feet behind him when Lee wrapped his bandages around Gaara's body and turned them towards the ground. "INITIAL LOTUS!!!" Lee jumped out at the last second and Gaara's body hit the ground, shattering tiles at tremendous force.

 

    "Gaara-!" Ayame squeaked; her brother glanced over at her with a raised eyebrow, she was worrying about somebody that wasn't from the leaf village. After what seemed like tense long hours, the dust cleared away from his body. There were gasps all around, what was in place of Gaara's body, was an empty shell of crumbling sand. A body formed behind Lee, and Gaara chuckled as Lee turned around in disbelief. Gaara crouched to the ground and his hands signing Tiger; a wave of sand formed behind his back, and with no reaction time, Lee was sent flying through the air and smacking the wall behind him. Lee tried his best to recover, but another blast of sand hit him back against the wall. The onslaught of sand stopped long enough for Lee to jump away; he ran desperately around the room as the sand followed closely behind. He stopped for a moment and Sakura cried out.

 

    “Lee, no!! Anymore and you’ll die!!!”

 

    Lee jumped back from the sand, and where he had stood moments before, a wave of sand crashed down, shattering multiple tiles. He stood back up, one hand placed behind his back, and the other stretched in his original fighting pose.

 

    “...You are finished here…” Gaara spoke lowly, his eyes fixated on his prey.

 

    “....Either way… This will end it...” Lee finished off, a smirk crossing his face. Aukoku’s eyes widened and he glanced over at Guy- Sensei.

 

    “He didn’t teach that, did he?!” Aukoku bit off; Ayame looked up at her brother, he was unusually serious, something was off. She tugged at his sleeve to get his attention and her brother looked down at her. “What is it Aya?”

 

    “Is that some forbidden technique?” Her voice was soft and her crimson eyes flicked back and forth from the match, then to her brother.

 

    “I’ve only heard that Guy- Sensei could barely use this technique. It involves opening up the chakra gates in your body to channel enormous amounts of strength, vitality, and you can even heal yourself. You can gain so much strength, it can even surpass a Kage, but it’s inevitable that you will die."

 

    "That means Lee will die?" There was a pang of sadness in her chest; she didn't have any feeling towards Lee, but he was of her home village and a friend of Nao and Ryuu.

 

    "If he can open all of the eight gates. I have a feeling he can't though." Aukoku stopped for a moment. "He will be extremely injured when the gates close again." Ayame stared down at the match silently after taking in her older brother's words.

 

    Lee crossed her arms and brought them up to his face, almost in a trance sort of way. After minutes of silence that gripped the room, Lee's skin darkened to a deep blood red. Veins popped out from forehead and his chakra was emanating off of  his body.

 

    "THIRD GATE OF LIFE....OPEN!!!!" His voice echoed throughout the room startling many. He left out a deafening scream as more chakra emanated off of his body. In a flash, the floor completely shattered, small pieces of concrete and tile were sent flying at the watchers. Ayame threw her arms in front of her face as she was bombarded by the concrete and tile bits. Sharp pieces nicked her cheeks and legs and blood bubbled up to the surface. She winced at the pain slightly, then as gasps rippled around the room, she brought her arms down and stared in almost horror at the match.

 

    "GAARA!!" Her mouth cried before her brain had time to process it. The sand Genin's body flew out of the dust and debris, and not a moment later, Lee was above him. Punch after punch, Gaara's body was tossed around the room like a ragdoll.

 

    "THIS IS THE END!!!!!!" Lee cried. He threw a punch at inhuman speed, Gaara's body flew towards the ground, only seconds later to be yanked up by his sash and Lee's bandages back up to his assailant. Lee grabbed Gaara's body and started to descend at superhuman speed. "EXTREME LOTUS!!!!" Their bodies started to spin and wave of air blasted Ayame and the rest of the watchers.

 

    After crashing to the ground, Lee's body smacked against the ground meters away, and as the dust cleared, Gaara could be seen lying with one arm outstretched. Ayame’s eyes widened and she leaned over the railing.

 

    “Gaara stop!!!!!” She screamed as loud as her lungs allowed her. He ignored her words and sand snaked around Lee’s left leg and right arm. Lee tried desperately to pull his body away from the sand’s vice-grip, but his body could barely move. Gaara clenched his fist shut and Lee screamed out in agony as the sand crushed his arm and leg. Move sand swarmed around Lee’s body like a pack of hungry wolves going in for the kill. Instantly, the sand cleared and Guy- sensei was standing in front of his student, glaring at the sand ninja. Gaara winced and placed a palm to his head in agony, then muttered inaudibly towards Guy.

 

    “He is my beloved comrade.” Guy responded. Gaara returned Guy- sensei’s glare, then stood up and started to walk away.

 

    “Winner, Gaara!” The examiner Hayate yelled. Ayame gasped, and the rest of the audience stared in shock as Lee stood up on wobbly legs. Gaara turned around slowly, his dark- ringed eyes examining the bloodied Lee. Guy moved to stand in front of his student, his body shook as his eyes looked over his students’ determined, yet defeated face. Guy-sensei sniffled and embraced the unconscious student. Nobody spoke, a heavy silence hung over the room until Aukoku disrupted it with a soft chuckle. Ayame stared up at her brother and her teammates Nao and Ryuu stared at him with dark expressions.

 

    “Amazing! Simply amazing! That kid managed to open five of the eight gates! Very impressive! And even after having an arm and leg crushed by that Sunagakure ninja’s sand, he still managed to stand and want to fight! Simply amazing!”

 

    “You’re pathetic.” Nao bit off. Aukoku narrowed his eyes at the Genin and took a few steps closer to him.

 

    “Pathetic? What is? Being proud that such an excellent fighter comes from the leaf village? That somebody who is your age can open up five gates, get body parts crushed, and still stand?” Aukoku’s voice lowered as he stared deep into the Genin’s eyes. Nao didn’t back down however, he only stood up taller to Ayame’s brother. 

“It’s pathetic how you can laugh like that. It’s more sick than anything. Do you think it would be funny if he died?! You wouldn’t be laughing like you are right now you sick prick. You’re fucking disgusting.” Nao spat at him. Raising an eyebrow, Aukoku laughed again.

 

    “If he died; he didn’t die now did he? You’re too soft. People like you die everyday out there in the field.” The Red Beast narrowed his eyes while he spoke down to Nao. 

 

    “Big brother..” Ayame tugged at his sleeve willing him to stop. Ryuu placed a hand on Nao’s shoulder and shook his head in hopes that he would listen.

    “Soft you say…? We’ll see who’s soft.” Nao’s finger pointed at the monitor, two names flashed on the screen.

 

Nao Taka v. Ayame Mori

 


End file.
